In years gone by, I would enjoy flying, particularly AA because of what was unique and entertaining experiences rendered by flight deck crews. Most flights would be out of DFW to most anywhere. When flying in those days landings would be "nailed" and you knew you had returned to terra firma. I was told that most AA pilots, in that day, were ex military and many had flown off of carriers; therefore the somewhat hard landings, and yes, they did it on purpose. There was a sense of security knowing the guys up-front had learned to fly in the military and were by all account exceedingly well trained. If you could hit a carrier, you may not be a top-gun, but you knew what the hell you were doing.
Another aspect of those Captains were the many stories they would come on and relate as we flew across the country. Often they would regale us with anecdotal stories, but always with a wonderful sense of humor. My question is, are those flight deck crews a thing of the past and where do most pilots get their training these days? I'd love to hear any stories posters may have of experiences from and by the cockpit crews.
In today's airline market there are too many incidents, as we are all to familiar with, that make flying somewhat less than a pleasurable experience. The one positive constant, is we can still count on the men and women sitting up front to get us there and home again...safely.

At the airlines there is still a mix of military trained pilots and civil trained pilots. Back in say the 60s or 70s, sure more military guys than non-military guys. Most pilots these days go to the larger airlines after flying at a small regional or cargo airline.

First of all, there is not an increase in incidents AFAIK, secondly a military (wo)man can be a very good hands on pilot, it does not make it a team player or a king in CRM, skills that are necessary to deal with serious situations, or a lack of can potentially cause / add to disaster (Tenerife comes to mind). Let alone the difference between flying a fighter jet and managing a 777/A350, it's a different game altogether. I think it differs between the USA and Europe when it comes to training and experience levels when you might first fly a jet (please don't go into the mine field that is the 1500 hr discussion), but you can be sure that every man and woman up front is trained to the highest standards, at least in North America, Europe and Down under.

Braniff1 wrote:

The one positive constant, is we can still count on the men and women sitting up front to get us there and home again...safely.

Not everyone agrees: The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh people will come. People will most definitely come.

IPFreely wrote:

Braniff1 wrote:

The one positive constant, is we can still count on the men and women sitting up front to get us there and home again...safely.

Not everyone agrees: The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh people will come. People will most definitely come.

The only constant over the years in baseball is the name of the game. Some of the important changes:

Whites only, then, gradually, quite a number of blacks, now a large number of Latinos.

Daytime games only, now mostly under the lights.

Platoon pitching. Complete games by a pitcher are almost rare today.

Knickers? LOL look at the funny pants today.

Cleats? Gone like golf shoe spikes. Plastic takes over.

Pitchers in ascendancy? Lower the mound.

Kicking dirt on the umpire. No way, Jose. Can't argue over a strike called on a pitch that was wide by a mile.

Having to bowl over the catcher to get home? No more blocking the plate.

Not pitching to Bryce Harper? Damned bunch of sissies.

At least they haven't gone to Astroturf. Yet.

Gatorade now, bucket of water and a ladle, then.

Can't chew and spit anymore.

Still the greatest game on earth.

Back to topic: Biggest change in Pilot experiences? Women are now allowed to have them.

But please, keep 'em out of the dugout.

Braniff1 wrote:

When flying in those days landings would be "nailed" and you knew you had returned to terra firma. I was told that most AA pilots, in that day, were ex military and many had flown off of carriers; therefore the somewhat hard landings, and yes, they did it on purpose.

Aircraft are supposed to be landed firmly. A greaser may not depress the oleo struts enough to activate the switch that tells the systems that the plane has landed, allowing functions such as reverse thrust, spoilers, brakes and such to work to their full extent.

Braniff1 wrote:

There was a sense of security knowing the guys up-front had learned to fly in the military and were by all account exceedingly well trained. If you could hit a carrier, you may not be a top-gun, but you knew what the hell you were doing.

What makes you think that military-trained pilots necessarily were so much better than their civilian-trained counterparts? Even if they were, what are the chances that they would have picked up bad habits along the way? I'm not saying military pilots aren't good pilots, but they get trained for a completely different job, to fly completely different machines in a completely different environment, and even among the best training organizations you will find a bunch of black sheep. Ex-military is not a guarantee of anything.

Braniff1 wrote:

My question is, are those flight deck crews a thing of the past and where do most pilots get their training these days?

Luckily there still are a bunch of those really passionate pilots around. In Europe, by far the majority of pilots these days are trained at civilian schools.

Braniff1 wrote:

In today's airline market there are too many incidents, as we are all to familiar with

Quite a lot of those incidents were the result of former military pilots who were unable to cooperate in a two-person cockpit as per modern MCC/CRM standards.

VSMUT wrote:

Quite a lot of those incidents were the result of former military pilots who were unable to cooperate in a two-person cockpit as per modern MCC/CRM standards.

This is very possibly the biggest bunch of unsubstantiated malarkey ever posted on this site.

The USAF has over 5,500 aircraft in service. Fewer than 2,000 are single pilot fighter jets. The vast majority of military pilots fly planes with cockpit crews of 2 or more including bombers and the most common planes -- cargo and transport -- many of which are variants of commercial airliners.

IPFreely wrote:

This is very possibly the biggest bunch of unsubstantiated malarkey ever posted on this site.

Boohoo, cry me a river. These took me just 2 seconds to find, and I have read about a ton of such incidents and accidents:

Inadequate communication between arrogant former AF pilot and his F/O:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tr ... 32a2c6212a

Suicidal former AF pilot:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SilkAir_Flight_185

There are tons of incidents where the military background of the Captain was central to what happened. The premise by OP was:

the guys up-front had learned to fly in the military and were by all account exceedingly well trained. If you could hit a carrier, you may not be a top-gun, but you knew what the hell you were doing.

...which very clearly ignores that ex-military is not a guarantee of anything, and also puts an emphasis on single-pilot types, cargo planes.

VSMUT wrote:

There are tons of incidents where the military background of the Captain was central to what happened.

You say tons then provide two examples. And of course no examples from the US. Nice try but as they say on the internet, "epic fail".

Braniff1 did not right the below incomplete sentence. I did right: In today's airline market there are too many incidents, as we are all to familiar with, that make flying somewhat less than a pleasurable experience.

VSMUT wrote: In response:
Quite a lot of those incidents were the result of former military pilots who were unable to cooperate in a two-person cockpit as per modern
MCC/CRM standards.

VSMUT, you must enjoy taking post out of context. The point I made to which you found an inane response had nothing to do with the cockpit crew. You served what ever purpose you think is important, although it had nothing to do with my post. I for one believe the men and women up front are the one reliable aspect of the industry. If you're going to try and be cute, go get a job and stop your half-assed attempts to translate other posters facts. You failed miserably, something I'm sure you excel at.
I would appreciate you not responding; I have no time for morons. It appears I am not the only one on the board who finds your drivel a waste.